News Release

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Fund Ghiglione Bridge Replacement

Date: November 1, 2024
Contact: Amber Smigiel, Public Affairs Officer, 907-683-9583

Denali Park, AK – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) today announced nearly $14 million of Bipartisan Infrastructure law funding to replace the Ghiglione Bridge, a seismically deficient bridge at mile 42 of the Denali Park Road. The Bridge Investment Program grant was awarded to 22 small and medium-sized bridge projects across the country.

The bridge, which was built in 1960, provides crucial access to all road-accessible facilities west for nearly fifty miles and is an essential link on the only road access to the Wonder Lake area of the park and to the historic mining community of Kantishna. The replacement bridge will be constructed next to the existing bridge, allowing traffic to continue for the duration of the project.

Tourism in the Denali area centers on travel along Park Road and contributes substantially to the local, regional, and statewide economy. In 2023, Denali visitors and tourism-related jobs contributed $840 million to the Alaskan economy.

In 2022, the Department of Transportation awarded $25 million of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to  build the Pretty Rocks Bridge over a landslide at mile 48 of the Park Road, which is scheduled for completion in 2026.